


Everyone's Waiting On You

by glackedandmullered



Series: When Tomorrow Comes [4]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: amnesia au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-16
Updated: 2015-01-16
Packaged: 2018-03-07 20:53:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3182777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glackedandmullered/pseuds/glackedandmullered
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes he just needs to get away, sadly it's not that easy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Everyone's Waiting On You

**Author's Note:**

> Forever grateful to my writing comrades spiderjockey and maffasaur for putting up with me while writing these and giving help when I beg them

Michael's boyfriends were used to very different emotions coming from the amnesiac each day he wakes up in the house. 

From fear to anger, confusion -the clear winner- to the miraculous acceptance that will occasionally pop out and set everyone up for a good day; they had experienced it all. 

Lately, however, there had been a new emotion that had taken over and seemed to be present more often than not. Sadness. A depression that dragged everyone into it’s dark depths, and they had no idea what to do. It was almost as if Michael had stepped out and a lifeless shell of a person was all that remained. 

When he could, he described it as a dark cloud that settled over his whole body, choking and suffocating him before he could even find out where he was. Reading the file would only sink him further into the thick darkness, making him feel tired and useless, and sometimes he would remain that way for days at a time.

Kerry came over a few times, laying down beside him on the bed on the days when he wouldn’t even move from beneath the warm sheets. They could never hear the mumbled words shared between the two friends, but he was able to get Michael to drink water and swallow down a little food which was always a relief. 

Unfortunately, some days Kerry couldn’t be there, having his own life to live after all. The hardest part on those days wasn’t being around Michael, they would cuddle up to him, bring him anything he needed, put on a movie and take care of him every day if they needed to; no, the problem came from Michael not knowing who the hell they were. Even after reading the file they were still strangers to him, on his good days it took a good portion of the day to get him fully immersed in the relationship; but on these days, these days it was like the information went in one ear and straight out of the other. 

The rare times they tried to initiate contact, even just a gentle touch on the shoulder, elicited a flinch from the man that shook his boyfriends to the very core. 

They didn’t know what to do, neither did Michael, and it felt like the whole situation was dragging the relationship into the darkness along with the amnesiac. A lack of motivation was common, video’s being produced at half the speed and with only five people, which led to questions from the audience, which in turn led to the heavy burden of stress and tension that radiated from the Achievement Hunter office. 

It all came to a head on one Tuesday morning.

Kerry reached across to the coffee table for his phone, already grumbling at the thought of someone calling him in to work on his only day off this week. Without even checking the called ID he slid his thumb across the touchscreen and slumped back in his seat. 

“What?” He barked into the handset, attention half on the phone call, half on the TV showing anime re-runs ahead of him.

Surprisingly it was Gavin’s familiar British twang that filtered down the line, “He’s gone,” was all he said.

Kerry didn’t need to ask who.

He shot up to a more upright position, his full attention now on the voice in his ear, “What do you mean he’s gone?”

“He just left, he’s-” what followed was an unintelligible spiel of words that sounded garbled enough with Gavin’s accent, let alone the terrible phone line.

“Gavin,” He tried to interject but the words carried on.

Jumbled lines of bullshit until- “GAVIN!” The voice stopped.

Kerry breathed out slowly, “Slow down and tell me what happened,” he said in the calmest voice he could.

There was silence on the other end of the line for a brief moment, and all Kerry could hear was faint, shaky breathing. 

“We were just talking, playing halo,” Gavin explained, breathing deeply, “I went to get a bev and when I came back he was gone, i checked the whole house but he wasn’t there.”

Kerry groaned, “Did you say something to him?” he said, and Gavin launched into the start of another incoherent rant that ended with ‘I don’t remember!’

Pulling the phone away from his ear for a brief moment to compose himself, Kerry squashed down the rising panic and exasperation. 

“Come on Gavin work with me, your hippocampus is fine, what did you say to him?”

If ever he could hear the inner workings of Gavin’s mind shifting at top speed, it was then, the cogs moving so quickly he thought Gavin might implode over the phone. 

Finally, Gavin took a deep breath and said, very slowly, “I think the last thing I said was something like… at least you still remember how to play games? I think?”

Kerry tutted, “Okay I can see why that would- yeah.” Running his hands through his hair, he immediately put himself into Michael’s shoes, trying to work out where he would have gone.

“I didn’t know it would-” Gavin offered, because he really _hadn’t_ and, at any other time it wouldn’t have been anything more than a joke to Michael. 

But the spiral had been going on for a while, and this was the bottom. 

Kerry shushed him, “It’s okay, Gav. Just- Just sit tight, I’ll be there soon.”

\---

 

Kerry came into absolute chaos.

The living room was alive with movement, the occupants pacing - two on their phones, the others talking animatedly to each other. 

"No you don't understand, if he's slept then he's not going to have any idea where he is." Ryan hissed into the phone, not even acknowledging Kerry as he passed him in his next cycle around the room. 

His face twisted into a frown, "What? No! No he's not on drugs, he has amnesia!"

“Kerry! Thank fuck,” Ray barked, darting past Jack who was pacing in very short lines back and forth, a phone held tightly to his own ear, “Geoff just got back in, he checked all over the neighbourhood and a while out of town but there’s no sign.”

“You called the cops?” Kerry asked, wasting no time before pulling his phone out of his pocket. 

Ray nodded, “Ryan’s talking to them now but they’re saying he has to be missing for 24 hours before they can consider him a missing person, even Jack’s ready to lose his shit.”

“They did this the first time too,” Kerry mused, scrolling through the contacts on his phone. 

“He’s done this before?” Ray asked, looking like he was stuck halfway between relief and fear. 

Kerry nodded, “Of course he has, he just gets too scared sometimes.” 

Finding nothing helpful in the tiny device, Kerry dropped it to the table. 

“Of course last time he was in a city he knew,” he added, glancing back at his phone again, “You tried calling him?”

Ray nodded sharply, lips pursed, “Jack has it.”

Groaning, Kerry ran a hand through his hair. 

“We’ve gotta find him before his memory goes bye bye.” Gavin interjected, finally leaving Geoff’s side to join the two of them. 

Kerry shook his head, “He’s stubborn but he’s not stupid, he knows he’ll lose it if he sleeps.”

Ray slumped into the single chair to his left, “You think he’s gonna come back on his own?” he asked.

Kerry mulled it over for a moment, thinking carefully, “best case scenario is he didn’t get far and can turn around, that or he realizes he’s lost and asks for help.” 

Gavin cringed, “And the worst case?” 

“Worst case...” Kerry cocked his head in thought, “Worst case would be that he’s wandered into the national park and the bears have got him.”

“Kerry!” Geoff cried out, shocked, his attention drawn to them. 

The shorter man raised his hands, “Hey! I didn’t say it was likely, just the worst case,” he defended. 

He received a well meaning slap on the arm but otherwise Geoff only scoffed, “Be a bit more helpful, man, where would he go?”

Kerry bit his lip, shaking his head slowly, “I might have been able to tell you that in Jersey, but not here,” it felt like the whole room groaned. 

“Did he go to work today?” he asked as an after thought, but Ray shook his head. 

“He wanted to stay home, Gavin was with him.”

“So he wouldn’t know where the office was,” Kerry wracked his brain, thinking of anything or anywhere, “Did you guys stay in all day? Did you go out anywhere?”

Gavin shrugged, “Only to the shop for drinks.” 

“And Michael went with you? because that could be a lead,” Kerry said, perking up at the prospect. 

Annoyingly, Gavin only shook his head, “No, he stayed back.”

Kerry growled, clenching his fists in frustration. 

“Goddamnit Gavin!” 

“I’m sorry!”

“It’s not your fault, come here,” Jack assured, pulling the skinny man into his arms. Gavin’s head rested on his shoulder and Jack gently ran his fingers up and down the bumps in Gavin’s spine, giving Kerry a judgemental look over the top of his boyfriends head, “It’s not your fault, love,” he repeated softly. 

“I’m sorry Gav,” Kerry said, sighing apologetically, “of course it isn’t your fault, I just wish we knew more,” 

They all nodded in agreement, “So do we.” 

\---

Three days came and went, if Michael hadn’t slept that first night then he sure as hell would have by now. Three days walking could get you pretty far, and they still had no leads on where he could be. 

Everyone was about ready to lose their minds completely. 

The cops came in on day two, more concerned about getting reported than actually finding the missing man. They set up a sweep of the lower city that came up empty, interviewed everyone in the street, but they hadn’t seen anything. Once they were sure Michael had lost his memory again, the search stepped up and everyone in the office even took the day off work to join the search party. 

Jack had taken up pacing as a professional sport, back and forth across the carpet so much that he could wear through the fabric. Every now and again he would exclaim a possible whereabouts that his head had concluded would be an appropriate place to check, but every time he was shot down. 

Gavin and Ray joined the ‘stay at home and wait’ team, since neither could drive and they and they had thoroughly checked everywhere within a walking distance from the house. They were going out of their minds with worry, not able to sit still or sleep properly knowing what they knew.

Which was absolutely nothing. 

Kerry’s search began with false leads. A guy in the street who bared a vague resemblance, a drunk who stumbled like a lost man. On the second night he stayed out, driving farther and farther from the rest of the search. 

He spent most of his time driving beating himself up. He should have seen this coming, he was the one who’d known Michael for so many years that he could barely remember a time without his curly haired companion, he should have seen the signs. He’d selfishly decided to spend more time with Miles because, hey, Michael had his boyfriends right? They didn’t need Kerry hanging around with them every day. They had a system, and it worked. 

So he decided not to go round that week even though he could see Michael’s mood dropping. He should have been there, he shouldn’t have been so jealous.

Driving past a familiar street, Kerry paused. What if…

He wasn’t sure what caused him to turn down the street that eventually led to number 636, the office he hadn’t been to in almost a year. The nostalgia was strong as his body drove him, unthinking, down the street. Even now, he could have taken the journey blindfolded. 

No one had taken over the building yet, still vacant and dark in the low light. The front windows were illuminated by the reflections of lights from the street over, the apartment block they had set Michael up in for the first year of being in the City; a handful of friends still lived there, but Kerry doubted they would have seen Michael even if he had come here. 

A figure stood by the large window that used to look in on the Achievement Hunter office. Face and hands pressed to the glass, toes touching the wall, he wasn’t entirely sure but the small amount of light left in the sky made the auburn hair shine and Kerry’s heart jump. 

He couldn’t believe his fucking luck. 

He walked a little faster once he was certain he had found his charge, his feet thudding on the ground, stones under his feet scratching against concrete and Michael leapt away from the window, staring like a deer caught in headlights. 

“Kerry?”

“Michael…” he breathed, his lungs filling with sweet relief filled air as he absorbed the pure luck he had encountered, “Jesus Christ, Michael.”

Michael darted towards him, a litany of questions playing across his face, “Where am I?”

Not interested in getting into it right there on the street, and feeling his stomach rumbling from his lack of sustenance during the search, Kerry simply took hold of Michael’s hand and moved towards the car, “Texas, come on my cars around back.” 

“Texas?” Michael eyes bugged out of his head and he faltered, but Kerry wasn’t listening, only focusing on getting to his car. 

The relief he felt for having located his friend was overwhelming.

\---

“What kind of accident?” Michael asked, taking the food from Kerry as he returned from the burger bar.

“It was a crash, back home. It wasn’t too bad,” Kerry began, laying his burger down on the dashboard and tipping the fries onto the empty packet, “You had a broken arm, a few scratches, and a concussion, but nothing major. You were back home the next day.” 

Michael nodded, sensing the but that was about to come. 

“During the first few days at home you were acting weird, complaining of blurry vision and dizzy spells, everyone just thought they were after effects of your concussion.” Kerry continued, taking a mouthful of burger as he went through the practised explanation. 

“You collapsed after a week, you had a seizure in your bedroom, and when we got to the hospital they told us.” Michael winced as if recalling the moment, for all intent and purposes that would have been his last memory before everything went dark, but it hadn’t seemed to have stuck. 

“It was a dormant aneurysm in your brain, apparently you could have had it for years and you wouldn’t have known. The crash caused it to rupture, the doctors were only just able to save your life, but your memory suffered.”

Michael forced a weak smile, “I can remember you.”

“The aneurysm basically switched around what your brain does, normally sleep organizes short term memories into long term, but when _you_ sleep, it erases everything from that day.”

Michael’s brow furrowed, “but everything up to the accident-”

“Is solid, yeah it’s there,” Kerry nodded, “and it’s staying there, it’s just everything after.”

Michael hummed contemplatively and shoved a handful of fries into his mouth. 

They lapsed into silence, the only sound coming from the rustling burger wrappers as they both polished off the meals. Kerry used that opportunity to fire of a handful of texts to Michael’s boyfriends and a couple of others who had joined the search party. He knew he should have thought to do that an hour ago when he had first found Michael, but the adrenaline has been running so high it had completely slipped his mind that he hadn’t been the only one looking for the lost man. 

Kerry shifted his drink between his hands, mulling over thoughts in his head.

“I need to ask you a question,” he said finally, and Michael hummed interestedly, “why did you come here?” 

Michael kicked his feet up onto the dashboard and frowned, “I don’t know where here is.”

Kerry made a negative sound, “That building you went to? That meant something to you _after_ the accident. You worked there for over a year, but it’s a new place, you shouldn’t remember it.”

“I- I don’t,” Michael mused, fingers tapping the dashboard, “It’s weird… I woke up on a park bench with no idea where I was or how I got there. Then I just started walking and I was just… there, as if I could have closed my eyes and my legs would have taken me there on their own.”

“So your muscle memory took you miles across town?” Kerry murmured in disbelief.

Michael shrugged, “I guess?”

“We should probably get back, there are...people waiting for you,” The boyfriends hadn’t come up yet, and Kerry thought 

“Can we just...stay here for a while?” His voice sounded far away and weak, with a total lack of anything Kerry recognised from Michael, “I don’t know why, I just feel like not going back to wherever I’m meant to be.” 

“Would that be okay?” he asked timidly and Kerry’s heart went out to him. 

“Of course, we can stay here as long as you need.”

Staring ahead, the light of day now completely gone, Kerry stared out into the rusty darkness, illuminated by the grimy orange of the street lights. Across from them a graffitied wall stood strong against the black sky, trash cans kicked over and spewing trash out onto the street. Not exactly a tranquil, thought provoking sight.

“Nice view isn’t it.” he commented. 

Michael snorted and stared at Kerry incredulously before shoving him on the shoulder, “Shut up.” 

“Actually I think this place might be closing soon so-”

“Drive down the fucking street, dumbass,” Michael said, rolling his eyes. 

As Kerry grinned and turned the key in the ignition and set the car rolling, he saw his phone light up to his side. As much as he knew he should be checking the replies and reassuring them further than ‘Got him,’ he prefered just to take this moment with his best friend, giving them a chance for it to just be the two of them once more before the boyfriends came back into play. 

It was selfish, maybe, but everyone deserved a little self sometimes.


End file.
